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Fun article

The Mises Institute presented “Ten Economic Blunders from History.” Whilst I am shocked they could come up with such a list of blunders and not include Mao’s “Hey guys, let’s build backyard steel furnaces and bang pots and pans to scare away birds” Great Leap Forward that killed 20 million through famine or the Soviet Union’s “Why don’t the peasants like it when we steal their grain?” war communism that was so disastrous they briefly resorted to a mixed economy program in the NEP, the list is still enlightening.

I was most intrigued by item #4:

4. I’ll Buy Every Sword You’ve Got

In the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573), Ming dynasty Mandarins in China adopted a policy of buying and importing swords from the Japanese with the goal of depriving the troublesome “barbarians” occupying those islands of their weapons. The gleeful reaction of the Japanese was along the lines of Jay Leno’s Doritos commercial: buy all you like; we’ll make more.

Consider how much, after a bit of substitution, that sounds exactly like America and China today:

4. I’ll Buy Every Sword Treasury You’ve Got

In the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573) period of America’s decline, Ming dynasty Communist Party Mandarins in China adopted a policy of buying and importing swords Treasury securities from the Japanese Americans with the goal of depriving the troublesome “barbarians” occupying those islands of their weapons any sense of how bankrupt their fiat currency had become. The gleeful reaction of the Japanese Americans was along the lines of Jay Leno’s Doritos commercial: buy all you like; we’ll make print more.